What are you thinking?

What we think is important. I don’t mean that our opinions about various topics are important. They may or may not be important; but I mean that the content of our thoughts — what we are thinking about in any given moment is important. The millions of thoughts that travel around our six-inch diameter […]

Grab bag

Some helpful articles I’ve bookmarked recently (or not so recently): “I’ll See You in Court” (Jesse Johnson, The Cripplegate) — a helpful explanation of 1 Corinthians 6 and its application in lawsuits and insurance dilemmas. “Unmarried Sex Is Worse Than You Think” (TGC, Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra and Collin Hansen ) “The Conversation About Sex You […]

Sermon: What Are You Thinking?

What Are You Thinking? Colossians 3:1-4 April 26, 2020 What we think is important. I don’t mean that our opinions about various topics are important — they may or may not be important — but that what we are thinking about in any given moment is important. The millions of thoughts that travel around our […]

What’s on your mind?

Since it is true that there are certain things that should occupy our thoughts, it is also true that there are certain things that should have no place in our minds:

Spiritual food

“For as he thinks within himself, so he is…” (Prov. 23:7a; NASB) A quick trip to the local bookstore and even a superficial perusal of the food section will yield a plethora of books on dieting and eating designed to help the reader change his habits of consumption. The tenor of the books? “You are […]

What do you think?

It’s a simple question. It will often be spoken at a car lot as a decision is about to be made. And a young man will ask his friend this question about the girl he is interested in taking on a first date. And a child will ask this of her mother as she wonders […]

Giving thanks for what?

Many years ago a seminary professor recounted the story of his first Thanksgiving sermon in his first pastorate. Thrilled and excited over God’s grace in his life, he structured his sermon around the theme of gratitude for wives, children, job, financial provision, and general happiness. As the congregation filed out, a woman whose husband had […]

A steadfast mind, pt. 2

Matthew Henry comments on Isaiah 26:3 — 1. This is here the matter of a promise (v. 3): Thou wilt keep him in peace, peace, in perfect peace, inward peace, outward peace, peace with God, peace of conscience, peace at all times, under all events; this peace shall he be put into, and kept in […]

A steadfast mind

Author George Bernard Shaw went to visit fellow Brit and sculptor Sir Jacob Epstein on one occasion. As the artist showed the writer his studio, Shaw noticed a huge block of stone in the corner and asked Epstein what his intention was for the granite. “I don’t know yet. I’m still making plans.” “You mean […]

Book Review: Think

Title: Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God Author: John Piper Publisher: Crossway, 2010; 222 pp. $19.99 Recommendation (4-star scale): There is no Christian mind.…As a thinking being, the modern Christian has succumbed to secularization. He accepts religion — its morality, its worship; but he rejects the religious view of life, […]

Twilight and renewing your mind and your reading

Ephesians 4 is perhaps on of the most crucial portions of Scripture concerning the spiritual life of the believer. While the truths stated here are echoed throughout Scripture and the NT, so many statements about the inner life of the believer are made clearly and directly in this passage: …walk in a manner worthy of […]

Sleepy thinkers?

Paul is clear that the ability to put off (repent of and stop doing) sin and putting on (embracing and habitually doing) righteousness is the result of allowing the Holy Spirit to renew our minds through the taking in of Scripture. A changed life comes from a renewed mind. The key is alertness of mind […]

What we think is what we are

It seems so innocent, really. It’s just a fleeting thought about a single wayward dalliance. Or maybe it’s just a brief longing for a slight but sweet revenge. Or lingering look at an indulgent — and way-beyond-your-means — purchase. Or the contemplation of a series of stinging retorts that weren’t said and wouldn’t be said, […]

As a man thinks…

A quick trip to the local bookstore and even a superficial perusal of the food section will yield a plethora of books on dieting and eating designed to help the reader change his habits of consumption. The tenor of the books? “You are what you eat.” “Eat right to live right.” Or as is commonly […]